The initial plans for a reunion were made in 1993, with discussions between the two of collaborating emerging from casual small talk and then an invitation to perform on
MTV Unplugged. Music producer
Bill Curbishley, who had been managing Plant since the 1980s and who assumed management of Page in 1994, was integral in the reuniting of Page and Plant. Despite failed attempts by others to reunite the pair, Curbishley was able to persuade the previously reluctant Plant into working with Page again. In an interview he gave in 2004, Page recounted the background: Plant's recollection of the reunion was as follows:
MTV Unplugged, No Quarter, and Unledded World Tour (1994–1997) Led Zeppelin's main songwriters reformed on 17 April 1994 as a part of the
Alexis Korner Memorial Concert at
Buxton, England. On 25 and 26 August they taped performances in London,
Wales, and
Morocco with
Egyptian and
Moroccan orchestration of several Led Zeppelin tunes along with four new songs. The performances aired on 12 October, and were so successful that the two coordinated a
tour which kicked off in February 1995. The Unplugged performance was released as an album in November 1994 as
No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded. Page and Plant's touring line-up included
Charlie Jones on bass and percussion,
Michael Lee on drums, plus
Pearl Thompson (of
The Cure fame, then credited as "Porl Thompson") on guitar and
banjo, Najma Akhtar providing backup vocals, Jim Sutherland on
mandolin and
bodhrán,
Nigel Eaton playing the
hurdy-gurdy, and
Ed Shearmur adding Hammond organ with orchestral arrangements. Page spoke fondly of the lineup, stating: The band, joined by keyboardist Phil Andrews, recorded a cover of "Rude World" by Rainer Ptacek for the 1997 charity album
The Inner Flame: A Tribute to Rainer Ptacek.
Walking into Clarksdale and Walking into Everywhere World Tour (1998) In 1998, Page and Plant entered the studio to record
Walking into Clarksdale. The album, recorded and mixed by engineer
Steve Albini, featured the single "Most High", which won the Grammy Award for
Best Hard Rock Performance.
Walking into Clarksdale was certified gold with over 500,000 copies sold. Despite the critical acclaim for "Most High", the album received mixed reviews from critics and was not as commercially successful as 1994's platinum-certified
No Quarter. To promote
Walking into Clarksdale, Page and Plant embarked on a world tour consisting of 97 tour dates in North America and Europe. Their concert in
Bucharest, Romania was professionally filmed and aired live on MTV for the special "Live from the 10 Spot".
Dissolution and final performance (1998–2001) After the 1998 supporting tour for
Walking into Clarksdale, Robert Plant left to focus on other projects, dissolving the reunion. The pair briefly reunited for a final performance in 2001 at the
Montreux Jazz Festival. In a 2005 interview with
Uncut magazine, Plant attributed his decision to dissatisfaction with the production on
Walking Into Clarksdale, along with a desire to "get back to playing clubs": Page later revealed that he had written songs for a follow-up studio album, stating: ==Members==